Celtic boss Rodgers plays down wealth gap with Rangers before final clash

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers claimed Celtic's financial muscle is not the only reason they have enjoyed more success than arch rivals Rangers ahead of Sunday's Old Firm showdown in the Scottish League Cup final.

Rangers boss Philippe Clement recently said that preparing for the Celtic clash and Thursday's 1-1 draw against Tottenham in the Europa League had been difficult because the opposition were "financially out of our league".

Celtic's most recent financial accounts showed they had £77 million in the bank and made a pre-tax profit of £17.8 million last season.

Over the same period, Rangers made a net loss of £17.2 million and started implementing cuts to their first-team squad.

Clement's comments did not go down well with many Rangers fans, who believe their team should still do a better job of challenging Celtic's dominant spell as 12-time Scottish champions in the last 13 years.

Rodgers responded by making the point that Celtic's financial performance has been built from a successful strategy based on developing players for profit.

"Listen, Philippe will have whatever he feels he needs to look at. Where Celtic has come over a number of years, this is a club that's been organically grown," he said.

"We haven't been handed money. This isn't something where we have had someone coming in from the Middle East and giving us a load of money. This is something that's been grown.

"For us, that is all I'm interested in, the greater good of this team and the club. The club's in a brilliant position, but it's all been earned. It's not been handed to us.

"Everyone has the possibility, certainly teams up towards the top, will have the possibility to earn the finances."

The dynamics in Glasgow's football rivalry were very different going into the start of this century.

Rangers won their 100th major trophy in 2000, when Celtic were on 78.

The Light Blues won another 15 before being consigned to liquidation in 2012 and have only managed three since emerging from insolvency with the formation of a new company.

Celtic are now on 118 and victory on Sunday would see them go above the total Ibrox trophy haul.

Arguments over whether Rangers' trophy count should have started again in 2012 will be academic if Celtic win on Sunday but Rodgers declared the total numbers were not important to him.

"For me, it's about the game," he said. "It's about winning the trophy. We want to win as many trophies as we can. We don't necessarily have to tell everyone."